Blue-printing machine.



U. DE LUKACSEVIUS.

BLUE PRINTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 20. 1907.

Patented Jan. 26, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

: INVENTOH ATTORNEY W/T/VESSES C. DE LUKACSEVIGS.

BLUE PRINTING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 20. 1907.

9 1 0,832. Patented Jan. 26, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W/ TNE SSE S dent of New York,

CHARLES DE LUKACSEVIOS, on NEW YORK, N'. Y.

BLUE-PRINTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 26, 1909.

Application filed December 20, 1907. Serial No. 407,302.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES DE LUKACSE- was, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and resicounty of New York, State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Blue-Printing Machines, of whichthe following is a specification.

' My invention relates to novel devices for making blue. prints orsimilar reproductions For convenience, I shall hereinafter describe thesheets on which the reproductions are made as printing sheets and thedrawings, sketches, negatives, or the like, which are reproduced astransparencies. It will be understood that the transparencies maythemselves be printedon aper or other material which is more or fessthick, ranging from oiled paper to heavy cardboard, but no mistake wilbe made by referring to them as transparencies nevertheless.

The machine which I have invented is one in which the materials of theprinting process,

including the printing sheets and the transparencies, are moved alongthe surface of a trans arent body behind which they are exose to thelight from one or more sources of umination. By varying the speed,printing effects of various de ths ma be obtained, or the speed may bevaried in order to compensate for different thicknesses or densities ofthe material of the transparancies. In order to print from oiled paper,for example, and from cardboard or photographic negatives on the samemachine, va rying' rates of speed'will be necessary, as will be readilyunderstood. I provide means for thus varyingthe speed and I also providemeans whereby varying speeds and varp'ng directions of movement may beobtained on different sides of the same ap aratus, with-. out changingor adding to the number of 'ghts used as the source of illumination; 1-may thus print on one side of the machine blue rints or other printsrequiring comparative y little length of exposure, and on the other sideof the machine, photographs, brown prints or black prints requiringlonger exposures. It is also possible with my machinet'o so arrange thegears or their connections with the driving mechanism that the movementof the'printin sheets and transparencies on op osite si es of themachine either take "p ac'e'in such'a direction as to E of the machine.of the materials to be printed will enerally take place fromthe front ofthe mac 'ne, but I in the former case the discharge ;take place at thefront, while in the latter case the discharge will take place at therear. of drawings, sketches, negatives, or the like.

provide a continuous movement of the materials to be printed or in sucha manner that the movements on opposite sides will be towards a commondischarge point at the rear In either case the feeding will also Byvirtue of the capacity of the machine to feed the materials to beprinted in a continuous circuit, very long transparencies may readily beprinted in the form of blue prints or other prints, inasmuch as thefeeding can be kept maintained until the entire trans arency has beenpassed through, during wfiich period the transparency' will have beensubj ected to the influence of the light on both the upper and lowerside of the machine, whereby a double effect is produced. This samedouble printing, so to speak, is, of course, produced equally well withshort transparencies.

Still another important feature of my printing machine is that ofproviding means whereby the two band glasses forming the transparentbody behind which the transparencies are exposed are situated oppositeeach other preferably so as to form an ellipse and that the support ofone of the transpar ent bodies is hinged so that it can be moved awayfrom the other one to expose the lamps located between the twotransparent bodies and thus permit of the easy cleaning of the lampsthemselves and of the surfaces of the transparent bodies; Thesetransparent bodies are preferably in the form of band glasses havingcurved interior and exterior surfaces.

Another feature of the invention resides in the employment of a roll topframe covering the operating parts, protecting the same from the undueaccumulation of dust, and at the same time providing a dark storing lacefor the blue print paper or other rolls of printing sheets.

To allow the escape of air from the immediate vicinity of the materialsto be printed and'ther'eby to facilitate the smoothingout of thetracings or other trans 'arencies, I make the apmns which feed t e transparencies-forward of a considerable number of parts insteaii'of makingthem of one piece. Part of my invention resides in providing meanswhereby'the separate parts of the apron shall be kept away from eachother and conducted in straight lines across the 'faces of thetransparent bodies and the intervening transparencies and printingsheets.

Still another feature of the invention is that of regulating the ingressof air into the machine and coohng the lighting chamber,

to which end I provide a hopper at each side of the machine, each hopperbeing provided with an opening, and one of the hoppers being adapted tocontain a suitably operated fan. The fan is adapted to force air throughthe space between the transparent bodies,

, In case three lamps are used, the negative line terminals of the twooutside lam swill referably be placed at the side of t e mac ine remotefrom the fan, while the ositive terminal of the third lamp will be paced in line of direct draft close to the fan, inasmuch as the effectsof the direct action of the fan are less felt at the positive electrodethan at'the negative.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Fiure 1 is a transverse section along the -B in Fig. 3, looking towardsthe left; Fig. 2 is a detail of the guidesv for the separatebeltsforrning the apron; and Fig. 3.is artly a front elevation andpartly a sectiona view of the completed machine. 5

The frame of the machine is shown at 1, the same being in the generalform of a box or receptacle supported on standards, 2 and 3. At thefront of the box or receptacle near the top thereof is a shaft or ivot,4, to which the upper part of the mac neis hinged or pivoted, as shownin dotted lines in Fig. 1. This shaft or pivot also forms the journalfor the driving mechanism, at one end of the machine, as appears fromthe same figure.

The upper part of the machine frame consists of curved end plates, 11,of wood or metal, formed along their curved edge into inwardlyprojecting flanges, 5 and 6, between Which at either end of the machineis a runway for the slats or bars, 7, of a rollxtop device Each endplate is strengthened internally by means of an angular brace orsupport, 8, attached to the ends of the curved piece 6. Secured byscrews or bolts to the angle piece 8, which is of metal, are woodenplates, 9, 9, extend: across substantially the entire length of t l iemachine, the same 'beingprovided with hinged extensions, 10,

10, the object of which will be explained hereinafter. I v

The end plates 11 are adapted to support the bearings for threerollers,12, 13, and-14, the connections at the end of the roller 13 beingillustrated at the left in Fig. 3. Here the end of the roller 13 isrepresented as being adapted to receive the conical end of a screw, 15,which passes through the slot,.16, in the end piece 11, and also througha block, 17, as shown. Into the block 17 enters a vertical rod, 18, towhich the block 17 is connected by means of a pin, 19, the said blockbeing thereby made adjustable within the slot, 16, owing to the factthat the upper end of the rod 18 is screw-threaded and capable of beingmoved up and down in the end piece 11 and fixed in place by a thumbscrew, 20. It will be understood that the roller 13 is a tension rollerand that the adjustability thereof is for the purpose of adjusting thetension of a belt or apron, made up of sections, 21, 21, and extendingthrough the machine from side to side,'passing at one end over theroller 12 and at the other over the roller 14. The successive belts 21arranged side by side extend through practically the entire length of thmachine as will be seen by reference to Fig. 3. Q

The up er art of the machine is shown in lace in ll lines in Fig. .1 andin the same gure is shown in dotted lines, as being turned toward thefront of the machine to uncover the inner parts of the apparatus. Thisis done for the purpose of cleaning the working parts, as will appearfurther on.

The upper part of the frame 5 is covered,-

as shown in Fig. 1, by a curved plate, 22, having a boss, 23, forsupplying a thicker 5 bearing for the rod 18. This plate extend& fromend to end' of the machine and is designed to keep out light and dust atsuch .parts' of the cover as are not so protected by the slats of theroll top. 7

Towards the lower part of the up er frame, at each end thereof, is acurved ange, 24, onwhich is supported a band glass, 25, curved in shapeto correspdnd to the curve of the flange. is a similar curved flange,26, supporting a I similar iece of band glass, 27. The two pieces 0glass, together,are arranged to face each other so as to form anellipse, truncated at both ends, the open end ortions beingsubstantially filled by trian ar blocks, 28, 28, preferably of wood. Tiese blocks con tinue the outer surfaces of thetransparent glass bodiesso as to interposeno obstacle to the travel of transparencies andprinting sheets in a continuous direction along the outer surfaces'ofthe ellipse.

The lowerframe, like the upper, is provided with rollers for the beltsor apron, such rollers appearing at 29, 30 and 31. The roller On thelower frame of the machine 15 I 8 in the 32 are secured by screws, boltsor other guides, 35, 35, so

fting of the a tached to the shaft 4 tate to carry the sheets 30 is atension roller and is adjustable in the lower frame by means entirelysimilar to those which constitute the means of adjustment for the roller13 in the upper frame, The lower frame is also rovided with metallicangle pieces, 32, s' ar to the angle pieces upper frame and to the anglepieces means wooden reinforcing pieces, 33, 33, each provided with ahinged extension, 34, 34.

The hinged portions, 10, 10, on the upper frame and 34, 34 on the lowerframe carry arranged that each two succeeding guides stand on o positesides of one of the belt sections 21. y this arrangement and by thefurther fact that each of the rollers 12, 14, 29 and 31-is rovided withflanges 36, 36, which are ad itional guides for the belt sections, thesections are kept apart from ,each other and no danger of tangling thesections intervenes. In this connection, it should be stated that thebelt sections on the lower side of the frame are marked 21, the same ason the upper part.

thereof. It will be noted that the box'or receptacle 1 in the lowerframe is lined with reinforcing plates, 37, 37, one of which is providedas shown in Fig. 1 with a hinged extension, 38. This can be dropped downat any time for permittlng the feeding of the trans arencies andprinting sheets, as be ready under stood. v

A driving motor is shown at, 341 and intermediate reducing gears appearat 40, 41, 42 and 43, the connections being made by belts, 44 and 45, asshown. Thegears 42 and 43 are intended to be illustrated as differentialears in the form of cones or stepped cones mitplication of the belt atdifierent points and t ereby changing the effect of the gears. The sameconstruction appears at 4.6 where two more stepped cones may be atfacing each other, and either adapted to be clutched together or to beoperated separately as the casemay he. These cones are, respectively,connected by sprocket chains, 47 and48, with sprocket wheels, 49 and 50,on the shafts of the rollers 12 and 29. By suitable adjustments of thegears, as will be readily understood, -the rollers referred to may beoperated either so as to form a continuous line of travel for sheetsinterposed between the belts or apron and the surfaces of the glass orso as to make them both roin the same direction towards a common exit atthe rear of the machine, .this' being made possible by the straightouter belt, 51, and the crossed. inner belt, 52, as shown. Moreover, byadjusting the belts to different spaces on the cones, the speed ofrotation of either or both the belts maly be varied to suit givenconditionshe lamps for supplying light to the trans- 5' parencies andprinting sheets are shown at cooling the lamps in the process. Thecentral lamp 54 just opposite the fan is-arranged with the positive endof the lamp next to the fan, while the other two lamps are arranged withtheir negative ends in proximity to the fan. The reason for this hasalready been set forth.

At 61 and 81 are shown means of which the roll top in reversedirections.

At 62 and 63 are shown reels on which printin sheets may be rolled andkept for cases o need. These reels are supported on shafts passingthrough the machine from end to end, one of said shafts being shown at64.

In practice I usually draw down, say, from the reel 62 a printing sheetand pass it between the lower edge of the roll top at the left in Fig. 1and the upper surface 0 the extension 10. The sheetis then turned aroundso as to pass under the belts 21 and between said belts and the uppersurface of the upper band glass. At the same time I feed in through fromthe front of the machine under the bands 21, and under the printingsheet already referred to, the transparency which is to be reproduced.If the machine is so operating as to permit a continuous circuit to bemade b the printing sheet and the trans.- parency, til of the machine maturn down the extension 38 and feed the en of the strip when it comesalong between the lower belt sections 21, 21, and the lower surface ofthe lower band lass. When the materials have passed throu the machineand out at the front end t ereof they will drop into the boxconstituting the lower art of the frame of the machine and therehecollected. Instead of cutting the ends of the sheets by hand, I may dothis by permanent or adjustable apparatus in the itself. Should themachine be operating so as to carr the transparency and printing sheetsin t e same dlrection therethrough, then these sheets will fall into thebox at the rear of the machine instead of returning to the frontthereof.

It is manifest that with the construction above described in detail, thetop of the'mahand pieces by can be operated chine can be turned back,giving access to the surfaces of the transparent supporting bodies andto the lamps, so that they can be readily cleaned as often as may benecessary. In the use of tube lamps, such as are men tioned herein, afrequent cleaning is of cat value, as the lamps are run in an -1nc osedchamber under conditions WlllCll prevent the en a second operator at therear dissipation of heat in normal quantities and the accumulation ofdust upon the surfaces might result in a ermanent attachment of the dustto the tu es and thus impair their usefulness as light transmittingbodies. Indeed, it is found in practice that the effects of dust uponthe lamps under the conditions to which they are subjected in machinesof this sort are such as to materially shorten the length. of life ofthe lamps. Moreover, the interior of. the glass parts of the chamberoutside the lamps requires frequent cleaning for a similar reason, andalso for the reason that in any case the accumulation of dust upon thesurfaces is a disadvantage.

' I claim as my invention:

1. In a blue printing machine, a pair of transparent plates havingconcave surfaces confronting each other, a source of light between thesaid plates, a pair of aprons carrying the materia s for printing acrossthe surface thereof, means for causing the aprons to travel in oppositedirections across the plates, and means whereby the plates can beseparated for cleaning the surface thereof and the lamps or'sources oflight between them.

2. In a blue printing machine, apair of transparent plates havingconcave surfaces confronting each other, a source of light between thesaid plates, and means for accomplishing the act of printing outside theplates, one of the plate supports being hinged or pivoted, whereby easyaccess can be had to the space between the plates. I l

3. In a blue printing machine, a lighting chamber comprising a pair of,transparent walls having concave surfaces confronting each other, incombination with a tubular light giving body within the chamber, andmeans whereby one of said walls may be moved away from the other toafford easy access to the interior of the' chamber for cleaning thewalls thereof and the lamp withe an ellipse.

in the same.

4. In a blue printing machine, a pair of transparent plates havingconcave surfaces confrontlng each other, a source of light between thesald p ates, and means for making printsalong the outer surfaces of saidplates, the sald plates being so formed and arranged as to constitute ageometrical figure such as 5. In a blue printing machine, a pair oftransparent plates having concave surfaces confronting each other, asource of light between the said plates, and means for making printsalong the outer surfaces of said plates, the said plates being so formedand arranged asto constitute ageometrical figure such as an elli se, andone of the said transparent plates eing mounted upon a support which 1shinged or pivoted.

6. The combination with a blue printing machine, .of a receptaclearranged above the same and constituting a cover therefor, saidreceptacle being ivoted to the machine frame and rovide with a roll top,to aiford access to t e interior of said receptacle.

7. The combination with a blue printing machine, of a receptaclearranged above the same, and constituting a cover therefor, and

rolls supported within said receptacle for through said chamber forcooling the same.

9. In a blue printing machine, a transparent plate, a source of light onone side of said plate, and an apron for carrying the mate: rials forprinting across the surface thereof which is remote from the source oflight, the said feeding apron consisting of a plurality of relativelynarrow belts placed relatively c ose together, rollers for the saidbelts provided with flanges for separating them and guides independentof Bald rollers for keeping the belts separated.

. Signed at New York, in the county .of New York, and State of New York,this 14th day of December, A. D. 1907.

CHARLES DE LUKAOSEVICS.- I

Witnesses:

THos. H. BROWN, wM H oAPEL.

